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Westbrook Hires New Full-time ZEO

As of Sep. 5, Westbrook officially has a new full-time Zoning Enforcement Officer (ZEO). At a meeting on Aug. 28, the Zoning Commission formally voted to hire Eric Salmon as the new full-time ZEO.

At a Board of Selectman meeting on Aug. 8, First Selectman John Hall announced that the town had an interested candidate in the vacant ZEO position. Later in the month, Salmon’s hiring was made official.

Hall said that a screening committee selected Salmon as the best candidate for the job and that he was happy to have a full-time ZEO in place.

“For the first time in a while, we have a fully staffed land use department again,” Hall said.

According to a job posting, the ZEO will be responsible for “… inspections, investigative, enforcement and administrative duties to assure that residential, commercial and other properties comply with the Zoning, Flood Plain, Aquifer Protection and Coastal Area Management Regulations of the Town and with related State Statutes. The ZEO serves as the primary staff to the Zoning Commission and Zoning Board of Appeals.”

The position serves under the direction of the first selectman and town planner and receives direction from the Zoning Commission chairman and Zoning Board of Appeals chairman. The ZEO also supervises the land use technician, according to the job posting. Hall said the position pays $68,000.

“We’re excited to have him here; he moved from out of state, so he’s getting to know the community. We’re excited too to have someone who can see issues as they arise and deal with them and not just when they can get to it as you do with consultants,” Hall said.

In late 2021, the town’s Land Use Office was dealt a blow when Eric Knapp, the planning zoning and development coordinator, resigned to take a similar job in North Branford. Following the resignation, the town decided to split the position into a town planner and ZEO as two different positions after some felt that the combined position was asking too much of one person. In early 2022, the town hired Peter Gillespie to be the town planner, but hiring a ZEO proved more elusive.

Zoning Commission Chairman Harry Ruppenicker said that the town had been using a team of consultant planners from Tyche Planning and Policy Group to fill in over the last two years.